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NASA NTRS · 20060046308

Transforming the Deep Space Network into the Interplanetary Network

Weber, William J.·Cesarone, Robert J.·Abraham, Douglas S.·Doms, Peter E.·Doyle, Richard J.·Edwards, Charles D.·Hooke, Adrian·Lesh, James R.·Miller, Richard B.
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Abstract

Space exploration missions are undergoing a significant transformation as are the expectations of their scientific investigators and the public who participate in these great voyages of exploration.

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DSNlong range planInterplanetary Network

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Weber, William J., Cesarone, Robert J., Abraham, Douglas S., Doms, Peter E., Doyle, Richard J., Edwards, Charles D., Hooke, Adrian, Lesh, James R., Miller, Richard B.. 2003-09-01. Transforming the Deep Space Network into the Interplanetary Network. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20060046308

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A New Blind Pointing Model Improves Large Reflector Antennas Precision Pointing at Ka-Band (32 GHz)

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)-Deep Space Network (DSN) subnet of 34-m Beam Waveguide (BWG) Antennas was recently upgraded with Ka-Band (32-GHz) frequency feeds for space research and communication. For normal telemetry tracking a Ka-Band monopulse system is used, which typically yields 1.6-mdeg mean radial error (MRE) pointing accuracy on the 34-m diameter antennas. However, for the monopulse to be able to acquire and lock, for special radio science applications where monopulse cannot be used, or as a back-up for the monopulse, high-precision open-loop blind pointing is required. This paper describes a new 4th order pointing model and calibration technique, which was developed and applied to the DSN 34-m BWG antennas yielding 1.8 to 3.0-mdeg MRE pointing accuracy and amplitude stability of 0.2 dB, at Ka-Band, and successfully used for the CASSINI spacecraft occultation experiment at Saturn and Titan. In addition, the new 4th order pointing model was used during a telemetry experiment at Ka-Band (32 GHz) utilizing the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft while at a distance of 0.225 astronomical units (AU) from Earth and communicating with a DSN 34-m BWG antenna at a record high rate of 6-megabits per second (Mb/s).

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